LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—President Rodrigo Duterte and the Civil Service Commission have honored the provincial government’s agriculture office for their diligence, hard work and innovative skills that have made Pangasinan a consistent top achiever in rice farming across the country.
Duterte, assisted by CSC chairperson Alicia dela Rosa Bala and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, awarded the Pag-Asa plaque and individual gold-gilded medallions to the nine-member team of Acting Provincial Agriculturist Dalisay Moya and Assistant Provincial Agriculturist and director for rice farming Nestor Batalla.
Fe Agas, Ramon Claveria, Irene Estrada, Peachy Lozada, Rita Prieto, Gemma Rosario and Danilo Villamil were likewise honored.
Moya’s team also received an incentive of P100,000 during the rites held at the Heroes Hall here in the presence of Gov. Amado “Pogi” Espino III, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, and family members of the awardees.
In a letter by Bala to Gov. Espino, she commended the provincial chief executive, pointing out that the honor conferred on the awardee extends to the agency that has nurtured the culture of ethics and excellence.
The office of the Provincial Agriculturist of Pangasinan shares the CSC Pagasa award with the province of Bulacan.
Pangasinan’s agriculture team crafted and implemented the innovative approach to rice farming called Accelerated Palay Certified Seeds Production along with the Agricultural Technology Enhancement program during the first term of then-governor Amado T. Espino Jr., who is now the fifth-district representative to Congress.
Under APCSP, Pangasinan distributes palay certified seeds to farmers to improve the quality of their harvest and provides a 50-percent fertilizer subsidy to farmers.
A full-scale irrigation program that involves construction of shallow tube wells, distribution of irrigation pumps to irrigators groups, and the massive repair and maintenance of irrigation canals dovetails the baseline innovative approach, said Moya.
Owing to the success of the two-pronged program, Pangasinan was awarded thrice as Outstanding Rice Achiever in 2013, 2014 and 2015 by the national government. The province has been elevated to the award’s Hall of Fame.
Pangasinan has also carved a niche in corn production as one of the top three achievers in the sector.
To protect the province’s gains in agricultural production, Espino has launched the Agro-Industrial Enterprise program to encourage farmers to become entrepreneurs.